For treating hair in hairdressing salons, various chemical agents are used, in particular dyes. When a client keeps their spectacles on during such treatments, arms of spectacles are at risk of coming into contact with these chemical agents and being subject to colouration, discolouration or even corrosion. So that clients can continue to wear their spectacles, for example, in order to read, during treatments which are often long, in order to temporarily protect the spectacle arms, there are used members which are substantially tubular and which are placed on each spectacle arm.
There are already known, as protection members, simple tubes, as illustrated in FIG. 1, comprising a tubular casing 12 which is cut at the ends thereof, in the region of cutting lines 14, 16, from a series of such tubes, welded at 18 close to an end 14. These series of tubes are formed from a tube of extruded plastics material. Taking into account this technique, it is not possible to produce very thin tubes from an extremely flexible material. Consequently, when such a tube is placed on a crook-like spectacle arm, the portion arranged inside the bend of the crook is wide and must be deformed when the spectacles are positioned. This deformation constitutes folds which bring about irritation with respect to the skin of the head and the ear. The discomfort thus created is substantially due to the fact that it is not possible to obtain tubes of extremely flexible material which have adequate properties of manipulation on the one hand and protection against chemical agents on the other hand. Furthermore, these members have the disadvantage of being able to slide along the spectacle arm and therefore providing poor longitudinal positioning of the tube along the spectacle arm.
According to document EP-305 281, crook-like spectacle arm protection members are also known, as indicated in FIG. 2 which is taken from this document. In this Figure, spectacle arm protection members 10 are fixed on a support sheet which is illustrated in the form of two pages 30, 32 articulated about a fold. The protection members 10 described in the above-mentioned document have a casing which is formed by two sheets of plastics material which are welded to each other along the longitudinal sides and which have an open end whose edges are offset in the longitudinal direction of the casing for ease of opening. These protection members are processed on. a support sheet 30, 32. They can therefore be produced with sheets of plastics material which are extremely thin and flexible so that the members have a very high degree of flexibility and do not cause any irritation. The discomfort of the simple tubes is therefore eliminated, on the one hand, owing to the flexibility of the material and, on the other hand, owing to the crook shape which reduces the width of the member at the location of contact with the ear. Furthermore, owing to the positioning of the bend of the crook on the bend of the spectacle arm, the member cannot slide along the spectacle arm and it therefore provides good longitudinal positioning of the tube along the spectacle arm.
Document US 2001/043308 describes two embodiments of a spectacle arm protector formed by a tube having a constant width over the largest portion of its length, from the inlet opening of a spectacle arm, then having a width which increases progressively towards the closed end. In one embodiment, the tube is rectilinear and similar to that described with reference to FIG. 1 and has the same disadvantages, and, in another embodiment, the tube is bent and similar to that described with reference to FIG. 2.
Protection members 20 are also known as illustrated in FIG. 3, produced in the form of a web by folding a sheet over on itself at one end 24, the opposite end of the member 20 designated 22 being open for the introduction of a spectacle arm. The adjacent members 20 are separated by a welding line 26, 28 which is perforated so that the members 20 can be separated one by one from a roll formed by the wound web. These members have not been very successful since the separation of a member over the entire length thereof is not convenient. Furthermore, the edges obtained have a toothed shape which creates discomfort since this edge is directly in contact with the skin of the person wearing the spectacles.
The superior nature of the protection members described with reference to FIG. 2 has been recognised for some time, but, these members are relatively expensive. As indicated in FIG. 2, owing to the crook shape, the adjacent members 10 of the support sheet 30, 32 must be spaced-apart so that, with a board which is constituted by the support sheet 30, 32 and the two superimposed sheets of flexible plastics material, it is possible to produce only a small number of protection members.